Leaving Mexico

Crossing the border out of Mexico was uneventful. The only problem was the two hour long wait to get through. The only question we were asked was “How can you take so much time off work”? We think she wanted to do the same.

On the Mexican side of the border, the highway was full of people selling chips and other junk food, blind people begging in the traffic line, and window washers (one only had one arm). We saw people begging who had diseases that are completely curable and therefore eradicated in Canada and the States. On the American side in California, however, houses were huge, cars were large (and there were more than one per family), there were giant multinational stores, and many people were overweight. In Mexico, we saw very few overweight people.

In the next few days I was struck by the differences in the two cultures. For instance, at the La Brea Tar Pits in Southern California, we saw a school group where almost everyone was rude. All the students were wearing i-pods and talking among themselves, even while their guide was talking. Mexican kids love to laugh and fool around, but I don’t think they would ever ignore someone whois taking the time to teach them. In general, it seemed like the US side of the border is filled with opulence and waste, when there are starving people just a couple kilometers to the South.

When we first arrived home, I wandered around my room touching all my bits of pieces of stuff. My room looked like it would burst because of all the things I have crammed into it. I resolved that first the next morning I would sort through all my clothes and non-sentimental items to give away or recycle. In fact everyone did this the next day, but Georgie did so more reluctantly. Hopefully someone will be able to use the stuff in the pile we generated.

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We all miss Mexico. Here are some Mexican mannerisms, sayings, traditions and truths that we discovered during our travels.

1. All Mexicans love Mexico. They are really proud of the richness in culture that Mexico can offer. People would get upset if we just stayed somewhere for a night, because then we wouldn’t be able to experience the area. Also, all Mexicans are upset and frustrated with the corruption in there government. It is changing the Mexico they know and love into something else.

2. Mexicans put chili powder on everything -- coconut, mango, sugarcane, and the rim of glasses with mezcal or tequila. People would get quite confused when we wouldn’t put anything on our coconut or sugarcane.

3. There is always someone kissing in the public squares in Oaxaca. It makes every walk around town an education.

4. Cathedrals are always peaceful. In all the cathedrals we gawked at, there were always a couple people sitting in the pews looking peaceful. Also, because of the thick stone walls, very little of the outside noise filtered in. Entering a cathedral is like stepping back into the 16th century.

5. Georgie always has room for flan (caramel custard). No mater how big a dinner he ate, the conclusion was a flan.

6. Direction always involve “al derecho” (straight ahead). We have gotten lost many times in Mexican cities and have always asked directions. Though the directions never help, they re always the same thing. Go three blocks, turn left and go straight.

7. Time slows down the closer one gets to their destination. It’s true! We might be driving for six hours, and then the last half hour will drag on for what seems like for eeeeevvver.

8. “Pasale! Pasale!” was the most common expression we heard in Mexico. This was what the people cried from their stalls when they saw us looking at their wares, or even just walking past. “Pasale! Pasale!” is equivalent to “Come in! Come in!”

9. “Andale” was what we were told to do after receiving instruction on how to get out of town. “Andale, Andale!” (go on, try out my directions! Go!)

10. “Mucho frio en Canada, eh?” was the standard response to learning we lived in Canada. Saying that was accompanied by them rubbing their arms as if a cold draft had blown through. Then we explained that, while some areas in Canada were that cold, where we lived was quit mild.

11. Mexicans have many ways of saying your welcome and sending you off after a conversation: “por nada, de nada, que le vaya bien” are the most common.

It is a shock coming back home to snow. I am in weather shock (latitude denial), and often go outside unprepared for this northern climate. Normally I like snow, but the snow here is old and dirty. I wish there would be a snowfall! Post script: I got my wish today.

Baja California

Entering the Baja was an adventure. Our ferry was like a cruse ship: it had a swimming pool, multiple lounges, deluxe cabins, dining areas and even a couple of chandeliers. Also, all the signs were in Italian, English, French, and German, but no Spanish. It was the closest Georgie, Daddy and I had ever been to being on a cruise ship.

The ferry was scheduled to leave Mazatlan at 5:00 p.m. and would get into La Paz at 5:00 a.m. Luckily for us, since the ferry was late both leaving and arriving, we arrived at the Baja at the respectable time of 9:30 a.m. Our first view of the Baja, seen from the ferry deck, was quite confusing. There was the bright blue ocean. There were the mountains and land. But the land was dry, a desert. Where the ocean met the land, it appeared gray and prickly because of the bushes and cacti. The scene was like looking at a photo-shopped image, a desert spliced together with the tropical ocean.

I was worried that when we came to the Baja, that there wouldn’t be any Turkey Vultures (I’ve developed a love for them). However, it seemed to me like there are more Turkey Vultures here than anywhere else in Mexico. It is a common sight to see 15 or 20 of them wheeling about over something dead. This was the first time I had ever seen detailed markings on the heads of the Turkey Vultures; they flew so close above us.

On our first day, we drove across the Baja to Lopez Mateos, a village known for the whales that come and breed in its bay. To get there, we passed over mountains (still covered in cacti and scrub brush) and over a flat plain with nothing much growing on it. The town was dry and dusty, even the parts right next to the ocean. Where we camped on the beach, in one direction, all I could see was flat scrub land; nothing poked up to mar the dusty view of sky. In the other direction across the bay, we could see sand dunes. That night while camping under the stars, I saw the brightest shooting star ever. It started in one corner of the sky and flew to another—its tail stretched the whole way and was brighter than the moon. I actually had time to see this shooting star, not just barely see its passing. Amazing!

The best thing about Lopze Mateos was seeing all the birds. It was Osprey city. It seemed that every telephone pole had an Osprey nest sitting on it. At dusk, every second bird we saw was an Osprey. They were as common as gulls in this town.

The other tourists in town, fat Americans, were petty stereotypical, and made me embarrassed to be seen with them. They came for the fishing opportunities in the bay and water. One of them said that his guide should cancel all their tours, so they could drive several hours to see a sports game. Another guy said we should “give the guy a couple of pesos to keep him happy.” This was after we told them where we were camping which was behind a gate that we needed him to open in order for our car to pass. The guy opening up the gate for us was doing us a favor, and so we certainly planned to tip him—but not because he needed to be kept happy! And, I think the worst thing about these Americans was that after seven years of living part- or full-time in Mexico, none of them spoke a word of Spanish.

Again the landscape changed as we drove back to the east side of the Baja. Now instead of an overall gray landscape, there were patches of green. Not tree-green, but cactus-green, and thorny plant-green. The mountains’ shapes changed too. Now, they resembled one side of the Grand Canyon, with canyons leading into them, between long arms. The soil was redder, sometimes covered in what looked like a green fuzz. The landscape was more reminiscent of the Zuni mesas than of somewhere in Mexico. Driving to find a place to camp on a beach, I was continually surprised to see the sea peeking out between the hills. The richness of the ocean color also shocked my eyes, as the landscape was so dry and washed out.

The mountainside came right down to the sand where we camped on a beach,. This beach was also our first taste of why people flock to the Baja. People in the U.S. and Canada drive down to the Baja, find a beach, and park their trailer there for the winter. The beach where we found ourselves was full of people from BC. Not just anywhere from BC either, but from Victoria, Pender Island, and French Creek (Vancouver Island). The people from BC expressed shock that we were heading back up to Canada instead of continuing to travel to miss Vancouver’s worst weather. But I like Vancouver weather! Also, this group of people were the first not to ask what Georgie and I were doing for school this Fall because many of had traveled with their kids as well.

Later that afternoon, we took a great hike up a hill behind the beach. Except for the huge tarantula, I loved it. We saw a great view of the surrounding area. To one side stretched the beach, with all it’s RV’s. On the other side of the hill was a bay filled with sailboats. On the hill itself was the classic light on the classic cacti. The sun was just setting, bathing everything in a warm glow. The cacti were bright, against a dark sky where the sun had already set.

The cacti about which I am writing are Cardon Cacti. They are tall (several meters high), with one central stalk; some have arms coming out of that stalk. The feature that makes them look funny are their “waists” and textures. There are ridges stretching the length of the plant, starting at the top and extending to the bottom. The newer part of the cactus has spines on the ridges. This makes them look funny; spiny parts meeting not-spiny parts, creating a tangle of different textures. These cacti also seem concerned about their weight. Every couple of meters, the cacti’s diameter decreases, as if wearing a tightly cinched belt. These are cacti with character.

We camped at one end of the beach where the beach narrowed and became ‘bouldery’. (We persist in sleeping under the stars with the biting insects). The boulders were Perfect Perches for Pelicans . I love Pelicans! I think they are one of the best creatures found on the Mexican coast. They soar just a few centimeters above the water, gain altitude, and then dive. Diving involves plummeting toward the water at a breakneck pace, with their neck stretched out. After they hit the water, they pop up like a cork, sometimes wriggling and shaking their head if they caught fish. It is amazing to me that the pelicanos (as they are called here) can see the fish from several meters above the water and not break their neck on the ocean floor. There was one pelicano that came up with a fish after every dive. Another pelican had another pelican shadowing it. We think the shadow was a young one. But it was like the two were playing follow the leader. The mother would dive and soar and flap it’s wings, the young one only a few heart beats behind in every move. They looked like synchronized swimmers, or aerial dancers.

The diversity in the vegetation in the Baja continues to astound me. In little coves on both the west and east side of the Baja there are often mangroves, ecosystems that I associate with the tropics. In these coves, there were mangrove patches ending right at the dry desert sand. They are little pockets of lushness.

On the night of the 6^th we camped at a b-e-a-u-tiful beach. It stretched for several miles to either side of our camp and had no other people camping there. All of the soft white sand was ours—at least for that night. There wasn’t much to see that night, except the crystal clear sky and stars. Half way through the night we all woke up and gazed at the stars. It was cool seeing the constellations move across the sky. And, since we were facing east and there where no islands blocked the view, the sunrise was amazing - all pinks and yellows. The next morning (who knows what time; since my watch died, I have had no idea of the date, day and time) Georgie and I woke up to a visitor. The owner had come down to collect our rent, and to show us turtle eggs. He had marked the places that sea turtles had buried their eggs. In the sand, we could see the tracks of a turtle. An indentation from her head, arms, and chest. For each turtle, there were two sets of tracks; one showing the turtle walking up the beach, the other showing it walking back down the beach. I seem to be saying this a lot, but it was amazing. Before leaving, my Mom, Georgie and I went for a great swim in the clear, sand-lined ocean..

About halfway between somewhere and somewhere else, the cacti started morphing. First, the land started to look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. There were spindly, tall, gray things that looked wind-blown, all facing in one direction. Our next experience with the Dr. Seuss creations was walking amongst them. They are like giant, inverted, fuzzy, green carrots. The plants extended 5 to 6 meters into the air. Their tops curled over and had yellow flowers sprouting from the tips. The skin on them was a pale sand color, with bright green twigs sticking out horizontally. The green bits seemed to come out in levels—a spiral of branches going up the tree (if it is one!)

Among the weird life forms were boulders. From the car, the landscape looked like giant dinosaurs had used this place as an outhouse, and then it all became fossilized. Instead of hills, there were piles of boulders. It was incredibly fun to walk on, hopping from one rock expanse to another. Georgie and I played “don’t touch the sand.”

There was also amazing rock-art there. Underneath a huge rock were the paintings. The site was completely hidden; there was no clue as to what was beneath the rock. If there hadn’t been a sign, we would never have found it; and even with the sign, we were confused. We needed to crouch to get underneath the rock, but once inside, the ceiling was at least a meter high. The underside of the rock was covered in paintings. There was no extra space; some of the images were even overlapping. Looking up, we could recognize cacti, corn and a sun. I have never seen so much ancient art before in one place. Apparently, the back country of Baja is littered with many such sites. Wow.

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Last year, a group of Seycove students did a social justice project in the Baja, specifically in Vincente Guerrero (a little town 4 hours south of the border) with an organization call Hero Holidays. Hero Holidays is based in Toronto and builds houses for the homeless in the Baja and the Dominican Republic. In addition to houses, they also build community centers. Groups in Canada raise money for the houses ($5000 for each house, plus furnishings) and then some people fly down to help build the houses. Initially, Hero Holidays picked the families for whom the houses are to be built. Now, the community is taking charge and choosing which families are most needy.

One of my teachers was the Seycove organizer for the project last summer. When she heard that we would be driving up the Baja through Vincente Guerrero, she asked us if we would do a follow-up with the families who received houses. Of course, we said yes!

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After a long drive down a bumpy dirt road, we arrived at the houses built by Seycove families. There were two of them, bright green, one-room buildings. I applaud the Seycove students; the houses looked very well-built and are very much appreciated. There were three generations living in one house, and there were 5 or 6 children in the third generation. There must have been around 15 people living in a house the size of our living room. The older generations didn’t speak any Spanish, only Mixteco. So the children were our interpreters.

This one little girl named Ophelia was the main ambassador. She was nine years old, would walk 30 minutes to and from school every day, and had cavities in each of her teeth. Ophelia was out going and had a sense of humor. When we were asking her about Mixtec words, our pronunciation of them made her giggle. In fact, the rest of the family also opened up when we started making fools of ourselves.

They are so poor. Everyone was thin and dirty. Very few wore shoes. When we gave them our gifts of food, it was immediately eaten. One big bag of nuts was the first to go. The children ate their food so fast…There is no way for me to adequately describe their situation. Ophelia waved as we drove away—we had made friends.

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The wife of the translator who works for Hero Holidays is a nurse at the mission/clinic /orphanage. Of course, we wanted to play violin for the kids at the orphanage but that couldn’t be arranged. Instead, we were able to play for the disabled children at the clinic. There is a program that takes disabled children off of the street and cares for them for the day, then brings them back to their family at the end of the day. The program provides the children walkers, wheelchairs, clothes, food, education, and fun. Some of these children had Down’s Syndrome, Muscular Dystrophy or many other problems.

We played our normal set—to enthusiastic applause. But the best part was when the children got a chance to play the violin themselves. Their faces lit up when Daddy would approach them with the instrument. The kids that didn’t have the strength to hold up the violin only held the bow, holding it in two hands and using their whole body to make it move. When Daddy would guide their hands to play on different strings they looked so happy. They got these beatific smiles on their faces and were reluctant to let go of the violin. It was wonderful to be a part of making the kids happy. It was amazing how these kids sounded no different than anyone else we have heard try the violin. They sounded the same as healthy children! And it was nice for them to do something normal and for the world to come to them, instead of being isolated in their wheelchairs.

And now we’re on our way out of Mexico!

It feels like the Baja should barely count as part of Mexico. Almost everyone speaks English here so we don’t even get to use our Spanish, and, in some places, the Americans outnumber the Mexicans. In those places, it can be hard to find any Mexican culture. Even the otherwise ubiquitous hot, spicy peppers are hardly a presence. They don’t grow here, and the food isn’t as spicy as we’ve had everywhere else. Or it might be because of all the tourists: almost everywhere we’ve been, we’ve been the only gringo’s around. Its pretty nice to feel like we’re the only tourists. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the Baja, and I would go back there—but not with the hopes of actually experiencing Mexican culture.

Our Last Week in Oaxaca

Most of our time since B&G left has been spent focusing on our work and getting our car ready for travel, but that was all during the day. In the evenings—the food, was the highlight of this week, with one exception.

Our food saga started on the 24^th, when we walked for two hours around Oaxaca trying to find an open restaurant. Our first choice was closed, second choice, third and fourth choices were also closed. By the time we got to our ultimate destination, we were so relieved to find an open restaurant … ! We ended up at “Los Danzantes”, a pretty fancy restaurant with an archeological theme (Los Danzantes are carved figures from Monte Alban, originally thought to be dancers, now believed to be sacrificial victims—genital mutilation, ughhh). Nice atmosphere, really interesting food, but the portions were too small after a two-hour walk.

On Tuesday, we went back to one of the restaurants that had been closed the previous night, La Teca. La Teca is a restaurant run by a family from the isthmus of Tuantepec. Oaxaca is part of that region, but the food of the Istmo is really more coastally influenced. So, naturally, they have a menu of special foods to the region: Garanaches (small appetizer tortillas), fried plantains (platanos—a savory banana), Arroz Mexicana, a spicy mashed potato mix, Tamales de Elote (corn), and great crispy handmade tortillas. Not only was the food delicious, but the mother/cook came out and taught us about the food. When she heard I was making a list of tortilla species, she gave me her own list—complete with Tuantepec specialties and Zapoteco names. If we had time to go back to one restaurant here, I would go back there.

Here are the definitions given to me by the mother/cook at La Teca, Deyanira Esperanza:

There are three types of tortillas that are served for lunch (remember that lunch is the big meal of the day, eaten mid-afternoon). These three types of tortillas are made from the same type of corn (a special corn to the region), the difference is the temperature at which they were cooked and some of the other preparations.

The three tortillas:

1. regular tortillas

2. Totopos are round, hard tortillas with holes poked in them. The corn grains to make them are washed well for an hour, until they are uniformly white. Then the corn is ground with squash seeds. Instead of Totopos being pressed in a Tortilla press, they are shaped by hand. That is when the holes get poked in them.

3. Memelas are a type of Huarache (see previous food entry). The dough is made the same way as for Totopos. Memelas are also formed by hand. There are different types of Memelas too, but I will describe those later.

To cook the tortillas:

First the oven is made really, really, really hot. The tortillas are put in first, but an important step is to get your whole arm wet, or else it will be burned when you put the tortillas in the oven. You place the tortillas against the curved inside surface of hot oven. When the oven is cooler, the Memelas are put in. After two hours from when the tortillas first went in, the oven has cooled sufficiently for the Totopos.

Zapoteco names plus definitions:

- Gueta = Tortillas

- Guetabiade = Tlayuda tortillas

- Guetabicuuni = Memela tortillas

- Guetabicuuni bola = round Memelas

- Guetabicuuni yul’la = oval Memela

- Guetabiguii = Totopos

- Guetaadxa = Blandas tortillas made in a comal

Notice how all the tortilla variations have the same root of “Gueta”? And that all the Memelas tortillas have the same middle “bicuuni”?

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The biggest exceptions this week of “interesting nights but boring days” were Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon: Daddy and I played violin at the Center for Street Children of Oaxaca. The Center for Street Children is a program for the children of the working poor. Their clients range in age from pre-school to 27. The children are not orphans, they have a family. They may live in cardboard shacks and their parents may earn minimum wage, but the children still have a family—which makes all the difference (compared to kids in orphanages, of which there are many). The Center for Street Children takes care of kids from those families who would otherwise be roaming the streets. The center gives the children meals and puts them though school. Their website and brochures describe amazing stories of kids who are the first in their families to finish school—going to university and breaking out of the cycle of poverty and lack of education.

We were there in the morning, playing for the kids in kindergarten. Actually, most were younger than five. They were the most appreciative audience we had! In fact, they were better behaved than the older kids. The kids listened with big smiles and gave us all of their attention. After we were done playing and they got to try the violins, their smiles stretched even wider than before–if that was possible. We have played in three classes of varying ages, but none has been so enthusiastic at trying the violin as these guys. Every single one of them came up to try the violin, and some weren’t much bigger than the fiddle! I loved playing for the kids—their smiles were so jubilant!

When we went back to play again on Thursday at lunch, very few people were paying any attention. But the few who were paying attention were really paying attention. While they was not as gratifying an audience to play for, I had fun playing things as fast as I could. One of the guys having his lunch there was Gabriel. He was listening intently to the music and talked with us afterward. He plays guitar and is studying architecture at the university!

After we came home from the shelter on Thursday, everyone scrambled into overdrive—preparing our last truly Mexican meal in Oaxaca. In our first couple of days in Oaxaca, we had bought Posole corn. Posole is a Mexican soup made with huge kernels of corn (they have the consistency of mashed potato globs) usually made with meat. We made vegetarian (mushroom) Posole. It turned out delicious, even though we were anxious about why the Posole was still gummy, and whether the amount of chile was right. The second part of the meal was prawns cooked in a mole chile sauce over rice. That part was truly fantastically mouth-watering. When my father retires, he should become a chef, musician and painter.

This morning, the 26^th, we are going on our last visit tour organic market in Oaxaca. For tomorrow, we are leaving Oaxaca! We will drive up to through Mexico City and then out to the coast. On Wednesday, we will take an overnight ferry Mazatlan to La Paz on the Baja Peninsula. Then we will drive up, up and up, until we get to Canada. I am not sure how remote we will be in the Baja, but I will probably post less frequently than I am now.

After the organic market today we are going to do some last minute shopping in the artisan’s market, and then we will spend the rest of the day packing.

My grandparents are here!

November 15^th

My paternal grandparents (Baba & Grandpa - B & G) arrived today. B & G normally live in Vancouver, just a 30 minute walk from our house. Normally we see them almost every day in Vancouver, so it was a big stretch not to see them for three months. I was literally counting the hours until we could see them. B & G spent the previous week in Cancun at an all inclusive resort. Their trip to Oaxaca was the first time Baba and Grandpa had been to Mexico (I don’t count the resort the week before), and we had a months worth of stuff to do with them in one week.

Three hours after B & G arrived, we took them to our local plaza. Our good luck because there was a “Galeguetza” taking place—a show of Oaxacan regional folk dances. The dancers were school children, from ages 6 to older than me. The dances were amazing, with intricate steps that needed to be completed quickly to stay in time with the music. All the dancers were dressed up, and for the girls, the dance included lots of swirling of skirts. We were all very impressed. Sadly, this was the one time my Dad didn’t have his camera with him.

November 16^th

The next day we all slept in, and Daddy made everyone a big Mexican breakfast (huevos moteleños). After we went to our local market to buy avocadoes and tortillas. I think B&G found the mercado an interesting cultural experience. By the time we got into the car to drive to Arrazola, a small town outside of Oaxaca, it was around 2 o’clock.

Each town outside of Oaxaca City specializes in a craft. Arrazola makes alebrijes, fantastical carved wooden figures. The carvings and the paintings on them are intricately detailed. My favorite alebrijes are the lizards, armadillos and horses. The lizards had long curly-Q tails and eye-smarting designs in oranges and blues trailing down their backs. They are designed to hang on the wall and actually look alive an about to jump on someone’s head. Everything was very beautiful and we bought many alebrijes presents.

November 17^th

The next day we to Monte Alban again. It was just as I remembered from Georgie’s birthday. None of the pyramids had moved, but there were more people. On Georgie’s birthday we had time to climb the most impressive pyramid and eat lunch. With B&G we climbed the pyramid at the other end of the plaza. Between the two visits, we explored Monte Alban pretty well.

I learned many things from the two times I visited Monte Alban. Monte Alban is situated on top of a hill overlooking all three arms of the Valley of Oaxaca, making it an ideal strategic site. The hill Monte Alban is on was artificially flattened to make room for the pyramids. The site itself is lined up exactly North to South, with one pyramid at each end separated by a plaza. Around the rim of the plaza are more pyramids (small ones) that used to be houses for the powerful people, tombs, and an observatory. In one tucked away corner was a vertical stone that marks the time on the solstices. We were there at 12 o’clock, by our watches, and the ancient sundial showed the same thing.

The elite in Monte Alban were into displaying their power (hence the big impressive pyramids). Like the many west coast First Nations, the people of Monte Alban practiced cranial deformation. Infants of the elite had their heads bound to push their forehead back in a very dramatic slope. This was a sign of status. After death, some skulls were inlaid with precious stones. Not only that, but trepanning was practiced, as a medicinal and spiritual surgery. These people were one who was very focused on death (of enemies) and proclaiming power.

The ballgames at Monte Alban, like most in Mesoamerica, were used to display political power, but the losers of the game at Monte Alban were not sacrificed. There are five ball courts in total at Monte Alban—that there are so many of them and that they are so centrally located shows their importance. Unfortunately, the ball courts were blocked off, so we couldn’t play hackey-sack in them.

That afternoon, Grandpa and I made Chile Rellenos. Chile Rellenos are stuffed poblano peppers that are fried in an egg batter, and then baked in a sauce. We stuffed our peppers with cheese. Everyone agreed, they were the best Chile Rellenos they had ever tasted. It was a dinner we will never forget, though I will never make them again.

November 18^th

Today was a rest day. We took B&G to the big market downtown and then drank some Mexican hot chocolate at a specialty Mexican hot chocolate store. Baba said that the big mercado reminded her of the old part of Jerusalem. I made tlayudas for dinner and everyone loved them.

November 19^th

The towns on the menu for today specialize in black pottery and more alebrijes. The Oaxacan black pottery is very beautiful, but it has no practical use. It isn’t fired for very long, so it is very porous so they can’t hold live flowers. However, the less well known version, the brown pottery is fired longer, so it isn’t porous and can hold water. I think the brown pottery is much more useful and beautiful—it is a rich deep color with different tones in different lights.

November 21^st

This is my grandparents’ last full day in Oaxaca. In the morning we took B&G to our organic market to eat breakfast. We also picked up some food for our picnic lunch. Our first stop on the road was Yagul, an archeological settlement that was in power after the fall of Monte Alban. Yagul kept certain traits from Monte Alban, like their documentation and fixation on death. Yagul doesn’t have gigantic pyramids, but it does have the second biggest ball court in Mesoamerica, and the largest one in the state of Oaxaca. We played hackey-sack there, and it was the best game we have ever played—we got three hacks! (one hack is when the ball has been passed to everyone without it dropping) The Yagul gods must have been smiling on us. Unfortunately, the price to walk around the archeological site unscathed was to sacrifice Georgie.

Our next stop was Teotitlan del Valle, where we made a beeline for the family we bought a rug from on our way back Pueblos Mancomunados. Last time they showed us the plants they use for their various dyes. This time they showed us the entire process from carding to making the yarn, to putting it on spools for weaving to weaving on the looms. Their spinning wheel was larger than I had pictured it; it was a meter and a half long. There were no sharp places on it for Sleeping Beauty to poke herself on either. They spent a huge amount of time fussing with the wheel and yarn. The family has looms for all the older members of the family, the grandmother, father, mother and daughter, who was 16 years old.

While we were there discussing carpets, their daughter was grinding chiles into a mole sauce. We asked questions, and they asked if we wanted to try it. Tasting the mole turned into eating lunch with them. The family brought out their table and chairs and mescal, we brought out our picnic lunch (vegetables, sushi rice balls and guacamole), and we all sat down together. It was a very special experience, sharing food with them, sitting in their workshop outside their house.

As a final parting gift, the mother gave us blocks of homemade chocolate for making hot chocolate. She bought the nuts, coco beans and cinnamon, and then made the chocolate. The hot chocolate we later made from it at home was the best, richest, most flavorful hot chocolate we had ever tasted.

My Grandparents left to fly back to Vancouver on Saturday the 22^nd. We miss them, but at least we only need to wait 4 weeks to see them.

A Food Guide

On the 13^th, very soon after we came back from the mountains, we got some visitors. Marcela and Andre, two of my dad’s previous students, came to visit us in Oaxaca. Not only did we learn how to make Mexican Hot Chocolate from them, but I grilled them on Mexican food definitions. Not just for Oaxaca, but all of Mexico, and I learned some specialties of different areas too.

First here are the food definitions according to the Zapotec woman from La Neveria. She is apparently well known, at least in La Neveria, because she was in the newspaper. In a well known newspaper there was an article about La Neveria. And there was a paragraph or two about cooking. Señora Amalia was discussed and photographed. And I can see why she was in the news—her food was delicious!

From Señora Amalia Santiago Cruz in La Nevería:

• Quesadillas are a grilled folded over tortilla with only cheese. The type of cheese is quesillo, a specialty Oaxacan string cheese. If the tortilla has something else inside beside cheese, the name of the dish changes. Ex: Chorzio (sausage) and Queso in a tortilla is called a Choriqueso.

• Tacos can be rolled, or folded over in half, and can have anything inside.
• Tlayudas—this dish is made with a Tlayuda Tortilla. A Tlayuda Tortilla is a large pure corn tortilla that is stiff because it has been toasted. Tlayudas are prepared by spreading lard (or another grease) on a Tlayuda Tortilla, filling half with any filling, usually beans, cheese, avocado and some type of meat, and then folded in half. The whole thing is then heated on the comal (see photo below)
• Gorditas or Picaditas are stuffed tortillas, like pita bread.
• Burritos are rolled tortillas from Mexico City and are not in Oaxaca, they have meat, guacamole and whole beans, not refried ones.
• Empanadas are made with white meat, yerbasanta (an herb) in a folded over tortilla that has it’s edges pinched closed (see photo again). Or, an alternative filling is Flor de Calabasa (squash flower), mushrooms and cheese.
• Tamales are corn puree baked in banana leaves or corn leaves. They usually contain meat.
• Amarillo is masa (corn and flour mix) and chile sauce mixed together, it is the first thing added in tamales and empanadas.

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From Marcela and Andre:

• Quesadillas are a soft corn tortilla, with cheese, folded over in half. In Mexico city and most of Mexico, Quesadillas can contain things other than cheese. In Veracruz however, Quesadillas can only have cheese.
• Tacos are a soft or fried corn tortilla that is rolled. If the Tacos are hard and fried, they are called Taco Dorados.
• Tlayudas are big corn tortillas that are not crispy and not floppy, like a tortilla. They have refried beans and cheese, but the other topping may change.
• Gorditas—In Veracruz, Gorditas have their “filling” added to the dough itself. The dough is then puffed, and tortillas stay puffed. The dough can be mixed with beans (Gordita Negra) or molasses (Gordita de dulce) or nothing ( Gordita blanca). In the rest of Mexico, Gorditas are stuffed tortillas, like pita bread.
• Picaditas are a soft, thick, corn tortilla with a rim. They normally have salsa, cheese and onions, but nothing else. They are larger than Sopes (see below).
• Sopes are like Picaditas, except smaller (about the size of an English muffin) and may have shredded chicken.
• Burritos are always made of wheat flour, and are rolled like big taco. Burritos are rare in Central Mexico but are more common in the north.
• Empanadas can be made of corn or wheat flour. They are folded in half, with their edges pinched shut and then the whole thing is fried or grilled. They can contain a variety of things.
• Sincronizadas are two wheat tortillas, laid flat on top of each other with the filling, often cheese and ham, in the middle.
• Tortas are sandwiches made from a local bread.
• Tostadas are hard, crispy tortillas, (harder than tlayudas) with various toppings. They always have refried beans, but can also have lettuce, chicken, tomatoes, avocadoes, cream, cheese onions, radishes on top.
• Tamales are a corn puree baked in banana leaves or corn leaves, depending on the area: banana leaves are more common in the Yucatan. Tamales usually contain meat.
• Enchiladas are tortillas rolled around something (meat, cheese, potatoes), and are baked in a salsa verde (green sauce) made of green tomatillos.
• Enfrijoladas are enchiladas with a bean sauce instead of a salsa verde. The bean sauce is well blended, until it has the consistency of thin yoghurt. Alternatively, Enfrijoladas can be made with a mole sauce (enmoladas).
• Huaraches are from Central Mexico. They are oval tortillas that is fried. They have an open face covered in salsa (green or red), possibly a piece of meat, and are topped by the Mexican crumbly cheese (like feta, except not as salty or wet). “Huarache” means shoe. The Huaraches are so named because they resemble a shoe.

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Breakfast Menu

• Huevos Rancheros are fried eggs on a fried tortilla, one egg per tortilla, with either red or green salsa pooled over them.
• Huevos Divorciados are Huevos Rancheros except the plate is divided (divorced), with one egg and tortilla on each side. Each side is one color of salsa, one red, one green.
• Huevos Motuleños—Marcela and Andre couldn’t remember, but when they do, I will get emailed the answers. So stay tuned!
• Huevos a la Mexicana are scrambled eggs with tomatoes, green chiles (not spicy ones), and onions. They are on every breakfast menu.
• Chilaquiles are pieces of fried tortillas soaked in red or green salsa.